Making the right decision about work…

Ok, so I work with chemicals. I work in auto body, I paint cars, and I deal with harmful chemicals all day long.

Anyway, when I got my first bfp last fall, I had an uneasy feeling about it. I found out and I was farther along than I am now, but I miscarried. I called my doctor before I started bleeding, and he wanted to take me off work right away. By the time I had my appointment (a week and a few days after my bfp) I’d already started bleeding and I knew in my heart it was over and he STILL wanted me off work just in case. I had bloodwork and an u/s the same day which confirmed the loss, and I went back to work that afternoon against my doctor’s wishes. He called me the following day to confirm the results (the u/s tech told me).

Anyway, he told me we could start trying again, and here we are pregnant again. I actually have a good feeling about this pregnancy, even though I’m scared out of my brain. Now, I’m dying to get my levels tested and stuff again, but I can’t get that if I don’t call my doctor, who will put me on leave. I don’t even get to give my boss notice… and I don’t want to put him in a difficult situation where he’s booked the next several weeks of work and then he’ll be down one person in the shop and he’ll be delaying delivering the customer’s cars.

I know what the right decision is, but I also know that I’m not wrong in my reasoning for not wanting to be on leave right away… so now I’m stuck. Earlier this week I’d decided I was going to wait until the first week of March to call my doctor, making me 8 weeks at that point. I’m going on vacation from the 15th to the 22nd, so by the time I go to my appointment, and have all the tests done, even if I’m on leave right away it’s only a few days before I’d be gone on vacation anyway and I’d just not be going back. But now I’m really considering if it’s worth the risk, the more exposure I have to all the shit I breathe in all day the worse it is for the development of the baby. It won’t cause a miscarriage, but it could possibly cause a number of other problems. *siiiiiiigh* Help?

oooh that stinks…I can’t imagine being in that position. My SO and I have a farm and I already feel like I have had to give up SO MUCH so that our coming baby is healthy. I am like you- I love doing all those things that include toxic fumes and manual labor. I am really into furniture refinishing and I did help my SO with a mirror during the first trimester, but it was brief and in a very well ventilated area.

Afterwards I still felt guilty, but I am always feeling guilty about things. I think you have to weigh out your choices. If you genuinely feel like you are ok with whatever the outcome is for your child knowing that what you are doing could harm him/her, then that is your decision.

Yes, I always wear a mask when shooting, but just being in the building is a hazard because the vapors are everywhere. I changed the carbon filters on my masks on Monday, and doubled up the pre-filters but that’s only so much, it doesn’t actually block the most dangerous vapors like isocyanates, and when I’m doing other tasks such as masking, mixing, programming the recipes, etc, I have no reason to wear my mask. I don’t work alone so while I’m not shooting or sanding, other people around me are.

We’re awaiting some air adduction masks for the paintshops, which will be good for IN the paintshops, but won’t help me when I’m not. If it makes it easier to understand, our secretary, who is in the office up front, was put on leave when she was pregnant too, just because it’s in the same building. There’s no ‘safe’ level of exposure, so they don’t play around with that. The company is not allowed to keep pregnant women employed anyway, the leave is paid by the government.

Although not the greatest circumstances, i would stop work & be open & honest with your employer. if you feel that it’s putting your LO at risk, you can’t go on. And i’m sure they will understand. (if you are comfortable, you could tell them about your loss)

If soemthing happened the other way around, your employer would do what they needed to do to ensure that the organisation is their first priority. You need to put yourself first.

I’ve also read that up until a certain number of weeks the baby is just a bunch of cells, there is not placenta or anything yet, so it’s not like, whatever I eat/drink/breathe is going through to the baby. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, and I’m a fitness trainer as a hobby so I eat pretty healthy and keep myself in shape. I just have weird job, lol.

@Purple_Bride: As I understand the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are crucial because all the organs are forming, so if there is a time you should be away from the chemicals is now. I also work with chemical in a lab, but I always make sure I work in a fume hood. I just don’t want to add extra trash to my body. If I do get pregnant, I would be extra careful and make sure everyone is working inside a fume hood which we all know we have to do. Take care!

Umm… stop working there. Seriously! I think that you are very fortunate in the sense that you are able to get preggo easily. Most women on this site are struggling for months and years. The fumes from the shop are not worth it. Can’t you get a ‘desk’ job in the interim even during your TTC phase? You don’t want to be inhaling fumes at all. Especially even in TTC. And then especially in pregnancy. Then breastfeeding, etc. I mean, this isn’t just for a few mths. So you need to make some SERIOUS changes to your professional life.

I know it will be very hard financially but you need to discuss this with your DH at great length and come to some sort of solution. Sorry to be so cut and dry. I am just thinking of your baby.

If you want to stop working, going by your EDD by your username, you could apply for EI sick benefits as early as mid to late April, then it would convert to Maternity 8 weeks before EDD. Of course you need the doc to back you up, but if you’re concerned about $$ it’s something!